Thousands still without power in N.B. after wet, heavy snowfall
Schools were closed in several districts Friday because of road conditions
Almost half the customers who lost power during New Brunswick's first snowfall of the season early Friday were still without it late in the day.
The snow that fell overnight also kept schools closed around New Brunswick and created poor driving conditions in some areas.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, just over 17,000 N.B. Power customers were without electricity, with the highest numbers in the greater Fredericton area.
That's down from about 40,000 customers at about 9 a.m.
Most of the outages listed on the utility's website now have estimated end times.
D'Arcy Walsh, a spokesperson for N.B. Power, said in an email earlier Friday that the storm brought wet, heavy snow, which put trees in contact with power lines. Road conditions slowed the movement of crews in some areas, she said.
"Work is underway and will continue as long as conditions are safe," she said.
Students got an earlier start to the weekend when schools closed in some districts.
In Anglophone West, schools in zones two to nine stayed closed because of the roads. These zones include Fredericton and everywhere else in the district except Edmundston.
Anglophone North closed schools in the Rexton, Miramichi and Bathurst areas,
Francophone South had closures in Fredericton, Oromocto, Miramichi, Richibucto, Rogersville, Baie-Sainte-Anne and Saint-Louis-de-Kent.
In Francophone Northeast, schools in the Chaleur region and Acadian Peninsula were also closed.
Early Friday morning, the New Brunswick 511 showed some tricky driving conditions with some snow-covered roads in central and northern New Brunswick. But by 4 p.m., the only road still listed as partially covered was Route 108, between Plaster Rock and Renous.
A spokesperson for the Fredericton Police Force said in an email there has been nothing major reported Friday morning in terms of accidents or particularly bad roads, but drivers are asked to used caution.